45 Sa'idi (Upper Egyptian Arabic) Curse Words & Insults

  • Donovan Nagel
    Written byDonovan Nagel
    Donovan NagelTeacher, translator, polyglot
    🎓 B.A., Theology, Australian College of Theology, NSW
    🎓 M.A., Applied Linguistics, University of New England, NSW

    Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator. Founder of The Mezzofanti Guild and Talk In Arabic.
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45 Sa'idi (Upper Egyptian Arabic) Curse Words & Insults

Sa’idi (صعيدي) is the Arabic dialect of Upper Egypt.

I know it’s confusing (😕), but Upper Egypt is actually Southern Egypt (from the villages south of Cairo all the way down to Aswan).

While it’s mutually intelligible with Cairene Arabic (the Egyptian dialect spoken in Cairo), Sa’idi is also quite distinct.

The most obvious examples are the letter jeem/geem, which is usually pronounced as a ‘J’ (in Cairo it’s a ‘G’), and the letter qaf, which is pronounced as a ‘G’ in Sa’idi.

But they also have unique expressions.

The expressions that Sa’idi people use - particularly insults - are quite colorful, and often the subject of great amusement in Egyptian media. Sa’idi people are stereotypically depicted as less intelligent and a bit backward, so many of their insults poke fun at this.

Below are some of the most popular Sa’idi slang words and lighthearted insults along with their meanings.

List of Sa’idi insults

Insult someone’s intelligence in Sa’idi (Egyptian) Arabic (stupid, useless, etc.)

1. خرج

Meaning: A useless person

Listen: Play audio5urug

2. خيخة

Meaning: A useless person

Listen: Play audio5ee5a

3. عبيط

Meaning: A naive/stupid person

Listen: Play audio3abeet

4. چحش

Meaning: A donkey

Listen: Play audioja7sh

5. مرمطان - (مرمطة)

Meaning: A person who is always in a state of humiliation

Listen: Play audiomarmaTan Play audiomarmaTa

6. اهبل

Meaning: A naive/stupid person

Listen: Play audioahbil

7. هلاس

Meaning: A person with a clown personality

Listen: Play audiohalaas

8. ابن المركوب

Meaning: A “son of a shoe”

Listen: Play audioibn ilmarkoob

9. متخلف

Meaning: A retarded person

Listen: Play audiomit5alif

Insult a person’s character or ethics in Sa’idi (Egyptian) Arabic

10. لكع

Meaning: A slow/lazy person

Listen: Play audiolika3

11. متوول

Meaning: A distracted person (unable to focus)

Listen: Play audiomatawul

12. شلق

Meaning: A person with a foul mouth

Listen: Play audioshalag

13. رداحة

Meaning: A woman with a high voice who argues a lot

Listen: Play audiorada7a

14. اوباش

Meaning: A bastard

Listen: Play audioawbash

15. تنح

Meaning: A careless person

Listen: Play audiotina7

16. مدهول

Meaning: A disorganized/careless person

Listen: Play audiomidahwil

17. مهيص

Meaning: A person who isn’t serious

Listen: Play audiomuhayis

18. نمرود

Meaning: An arrogant person

Listen: Play audionamrud

19. يا جالوص الطين

Meaning: A piece of mud (refers to a boring person)

Listen: Play audiojaloos i-Teen

20. مقطران

Meaning: A person covered in tar (someone who attracts problems)

Listen: Play audiomugaTran

21. معنجر

Meaning: An arrogant person

Listen: Play audioma3njir

22. سكع

Meaning: A person who doesn’t care about time

Listen: Play audiosaka3

23. نطع

Meaning: A person who depends on others to get work done

Listen: Play audionaTa3

24. لطخ

Meaning: A person who can’t be taken seriously

Listen: Play audiolaT5

25. عونق

Meaning: A person who depends on others to get work done

Listen: Play audio3awnaq

26. متلحم

Meaning: A person who depends on others to get work done

Listen: Play audiomitla7im

27. قنزوح

Meaning: A person who brags about themselves

Listen: Play audioganzu7

28. ملسلس

Meaning: A boring person

Listen: Play audiomlaslis

29. متعنطز

Meaning: A stiff person

Listen: Play audiomita3anTiz

30. عنج

Meaning: A provocative person

Listen: Play audio3anij

31. مدلدل

Meaning: A disorganized person

Listen: Play audiomidaldil

32. منيل

Meaning: A person covered in Nile River mud (lots of bad luck)

Listen: Play audiominayil

33. نچس

Meaning: A dirty (bad) person

Listen: Play audionijis

34. مكحرت

Meaning: A poor person

Listen: Play audiomka7arit

35. رطراط

Meaning: A person who talks too much

Listen: Play audioriTraT

Insult a person’s appearance or smell in Sa’idi (Egyptian) Arabic

36. عوجة

Meaning: An ugly person

Listen: Play audio3awja

37. بلط

Meaning: A lazy person

Listen: Play audiobilaT

38. نتن

Meaning: A person who smells bad (also stingy)

Listen: Play audionitin

39. مقلحف

Meaning: A person who smells bad

Listen: Play audiomugal7if

40. عفشه

Meaning: An ugly person

Listen: Play audio3afsha

41. شينه

Meaning: An ugly person

Listen: Play audiosheena

42. امعفلط

Meaning: A filthy person

Listen: Play audioima3afliT

43. امعطن

Meaning: A filthy person covered in fungus

Listen: Play audioima3atun

44. ملكوم

Meaning: A sick person

Listen: Play audiomalkoom

45. زراط

Meaning: A person who farts a lot (also refers to someone who frequently breaks promises)

Listen: Play audiozaraT


Any more that I should add to this list? 😊

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Donovan Nagel - B. Th, MA AppLing
I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic).
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